Bus hub overspend $900K and rising
DUNEDIN’S bus hub is nearly $1 million over budget.
While project leader the Otago Regional Council will foot more than half of the extra $900,000 bill, the Dunedin City Council will pay for the rest.
A $4.4 million budget was set for the hub when project details were announced last July.
A report to the regional council this week puts the current cost at $5.3 million and says ‘‘additional costs will continue to be incurred’’.
The project will create a bus network hub in Great King St between Moray Pl and St Andrew St.
Part of the added spending comes from ‘‘revised carriageway construction’’ due to unforeseen ground conditions.
An extra $200,000 was also incurred when construction stopped for six weeks over December and January.
The regional council cited the need to ease disruption for retailers over the shopping period for the stoppage.
The city council’s $440,000 cost comes from the need to change the layout of water mains to be easily accessed in future.
The underground water main layout was not as expected, which caused issues for construction.
The report also outlines two incidents whereby electrical cables were compromised which created a risk of ‘‘electrocution’’.
It said additional precautions had been been undertaken and ‘‘incident investigations were underway’’.
The regional council was unable to respond to questions yesterday, including whether anyone was harmed in the incidents.
The project completion has been revised several times.
It is set to be finished late next month and be operational in early March.
The hub will include 10 bus bays, electronic timetables showing bus times, shelters, public toilets and a cafe kiosk.